Marketing the Full Brand Experience. Experiential Marketing is a form of advertising that is low on budget but high on impact. It's time to take advantage its unique ROI. Here's how...

1. 20 22 march 2013 —
directed to local bars where they could
purchase discounted mojitos. UK sales
increased and have remained at 50 per
cent more since the activity took place.
Not only did the activity capture the
public’s imagination and was closely
associated with the product, but it was
also an example of how a small event
can have a huge impact. If Havana Club
can use urban gardens to sell its spirit,
then why can’t such events be used to
sell fresh produce?
ere are agencies working within
the fresh produce industry that are
embracing the idea of experiential
marketing. Last year Li le Big Voice
brought a taste of the Spanish coun-
tryside to the bleak vistas of London’s
commuters and tourists with its Seville
oranges campaign on behalf of MMUK
and Tesco.
e team toured the city’s land-
marks and Waterloo station with a
pop-up orchard, handing out samples
of the fruit and discount vouchers for
further purchases.
“ e response was amazing – there
is no be er place to reach so many
people. You never get the opportunity
to engage with so many people in other
areas–includingstores,”explainsman-
aging director Jonathan Corbe .
“One key aspect in the success was
the product – satsumas are general-
ly liked and are the perfect snack food
for all ages – that allowed us to speak
to anyone and everyone. If you are out
offering a positive experience to people
resh produce is almost the per-
fectproducttoselltoconsumers
– there is little to question about its die-
tary benefits.
Yet,theindustryisconstantlystrug-
gling to convince shoppers to add more
of the good stuff to their baskets. Mar-
gins within fresh produce are noto-
riously low and therefore marketing
budgets are small, if they exist at all.
However, in recent years the market-
ing industry has been perfecting a form
of consumer engagement where budget
is not an issue but imagination is vital.
Experiential marketing does what it
says on the tin; it creates an experience
foraconsumerthattheywillthenhope-
fullysharethroughsocialmedia–effec-
tively promoting the product for free. It
has already been used to great success
by the alcohol industry, with Smirnoff
Vodka’s nightlife exchange project held
up as a great example of a brand expe-
rience. According to its agency RPM,
sales quadrupled following the activity.
While the drink brands can spend
thousands on events, a huge budget is
not required when you have imagina-
tion and organisational ability.
New business manager for e
Lounge Group, an agency specialising
in experiential and event marketing,
Eve Bo omley says that the important
element to any activity is to excite the
consumer beyond the product prac-
ticality. “Experiential has the unique
power to provide a direct, tangible
and memorable experience of both the
brand and product in a way no other marketing channel can
achieve,” she explains.
“Use the experiential as a springboard for driving con-
versations online and creating greater target audience
awareness. Put your product or brand at the centre of the
experience and leave your consumer in no doubt who you
are and the role you play in their lives.
“Touch your consumers’ hearts and make your experi-
ence unforge able, encouraging them to recall you fondly.
When they require a product in your category, you’re front
of mind.”
e Lounge Group has won awards for its collaboration
with Havana Club rum, running a campaign in which they
launched pop-up mint gardens in four UK cities in associa-
tion with ‘guerrilla’ gardener Richard Reynolds. e gardens
were created out of up-cycled materials, making them very
low-cost. Passers-by were handed packets of mint seeds and
Experiential marketing
eexperience
REVOLUTIONExperientialmarketingisaformofadvertisingthatislowon
budgetbuthighonimpact.Shouldthefreshproduceindustry
takemoreadvantageofit?SamanthaLysterreports
F
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2. 21— 22 march 2013
some great write ups by simply le ing
people know something is in season
and allowing them to taste it – and have
also started working with some of the
most prolific bloggers to run both tradi-
tional and virtual press events.
“However, some of the best results
are achieved by combining new plat-
forms with more traditional forms of
marketing and public relations. We
recently ran a ‘grapefruit challenge’ for
South African growers, asking social
media users to eat a grapefruit every
day for two weeks and report back on
the difference it made to their weight,
hair and skin. is was linked to PR
coverage in the national media and
promotions taking place in supermar-
kets. Ultimately, if we use social media
and experiential activities to drive
traffic into stores and influence sales,
we create the best possible return on
investment for these initiatives.”
With so many low-cost options
available to the fresh produce industry,
could we soon be rocking at Glaston-
bury with a plate of sautéed vegetables
rather than greasy burgers? —
word will spread – and fresh produce is in a prime position
to do just that. Yes, with some products it’s difficult – but
not impossible.”
BothJaneMilton,founderofthefoodconsultancyNotJust
Food and Emma Laney, founder of Syren Marketing, which
works with consumer brands including Britvic, say that fes-
tivals are an area that fresh produce brands are suited to but
have not yet fully explored.
“ e quality of food at music festivals has increased dra-
matically in recent years, and it’s a fantastic opportunity to
reach a cross section of people,” says Milton.
“ ere’s also a great opportunity around cooking demon-
strations. ere are so many people who really do not how to
prepareandcookvegetables.Freshproducebrandsshouldbe
exploring activity at food festivals, where you can make the
product come to life – make it exciting and different.”
A good example of this is the Tenderstem in 10 campaign
by Pam Lloyd PR, which took the broccoli to several food fes-
tivals last summer where the activity was met with an enthu-
siastic response. In one day, around 7,500 people sampled the
product. Likewise, Laney says fresh produce growers and
suppliers could look to how drink brands have ingratiat-
ed themselves with events. By creating fun and imaginative
spaces at events, brands a ract a ention from consumers
who photograph and share their experience through social
media.“ ere is a trend for street food at the moment that
freshproducebrandscouldreallytakeadvantageof,showing
up at street markets for example,” says Laney.
Milton adds that recently the government has called for
teachers to add cooking skills to the curriculum, but while
1— Recipes and demonstrations have been
key to the promotion of Tenderstem
2— Havana Club rum’s mint revolution
3— Havana Club gave away seeds and
pots of mint
4—Promoting Tesco’s Spanish soft citrus in
London this year with a pop-up orchard
that’s a noble endeavour how many of
thoseteachersareactuallygoingtohave
the skills themselves in the first place?
“ ere’s an opportunity here for the
industry to step in and help schools, not
just in terms of recipe ideas but again
supplying in-school cooking demon-
strations,” she adds.
Communications director at mar-
keting agency Red Communications,
Dominic Weaver, suggests that brands
keep abreast of the developments in
social media.
“Some of the newest tools available
o en can achieve good results for rela-
tively low cost,” he adds. “Jaffa recently
ran a Jumpin’ Jaffa competition, invit-
ing students to upload videos of them
bouncing on Jaffa spacehoppers to
YouTube. As well as the direct promo-
tionofthebrandtostudents,thecompe-
tition generated talk on social networks
and also fun content for the brand.
“Using the produce is a great way to
engage social media users. We’ve seen
Use the experiential as a
springboard for driving conversations
online and creating greater target
audience awareness
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